Orchard Park, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - The Buffalo Bills had their four-game winning streak snapped on Sunday, falling to the Philadelphia Eagles, 13-12, at Highmark Stadium.
While the Bills will still be in the playoffs this January, they failed to win the AFC East for a sixth-straight season.
Here are my Arrows Up and Down from the contest, starting Down after the loss:
ARROW DOWN:
The offense for three quarters of the game
The Bills were 5:11 away from being shut out in a game for the first time since Josh Allen’s rookie year of 2018. For the first 55 minutes, it was a very rough day for the offense.
Until their final two drives, the Bills had just 209 total yards of offense, scored no points, and turned the ball over twice.
QB - Josh Allen
For the second week in-a-row, Allen made, at least, one critical decision that cost his team valuable field position and even possession.
In this one, he decided not to throw the ball away on a 2nd-and-3 from the Eagles' 23-yard line, which ultimately resulted in a fumble that Philadelphia gained possession of at the Bills' 45-yard line.
They scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive.
Then he made the same decision to not throw the ball away on a third-down play early in the fourth quarter from the Philadelphia 27-yard line. He tried to circle back across the field, and it cost him a sack and a loss of 19 yards, pushing the Bills out of field goal range.
Allen also didn’t throw a touchdown pass for the second week in-a-row, finishing 23-of-35 (65.7%) for 262 yards.
The two-point pass
Allen got an Arrow Down for his overall game and a couple decisions, but I’m also giving him one specifically for not nailing the throw on the final two-point conversion attempt to win the game.
Khalil Shakir was open in the back of the end zone, and Allen just plain missed him.
OC - Joe Brady
Players made critical mistakes throughout the game, but Brady did not set his offense up well enough on too many possessions.
The play-action pass Allen fumbled was one instance. The Bills had two plays to get two yards there.
A third-down tunnel screen to Ty Johnson with the game on the line with less than two minutes left was another. It lost yardage.
O’Cyrus Torrence and David Edwards
The Eagles dominated the line of scrimmage when the Bills were on offense, and most of that came from the interior of the line. Torrence and Edwards had rough days, getting beaten several times.
Five sacks allowed
Independent of the play of the interior offensive line, the Bills allowed five sacks on the day, totaling 51 yards in backwards field position. Far too many, and especially with a banged up Allen.
K - Michael Badgley
The only reason the Bills even had a decision to make at the end of the game to go for two points was because Badgley missed his second extra point in as many weeks. This time, it was blocked after coming off his foot a bit too low.
Blocked extra point
It wasn’t just on Badgley, though. Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter penetrated and got his hand up to block the kick, which that turned out to be a massive play in the game.
First half third-and-long defense
Once again, third-and-long was a problem for the Bills defense, specifically in the first half. When they should absolutely be getting off the field in that situation, the Eagles converted a 3rd-and-10 and a 3rd-and-12.
In the first half, the Eagles were 3-for-6 on third downs.
Pass rush
Once again, the Bills had a very tough time generating a pass rush, especially with their front-four. Jalen Hurts was sacked once - when he ran and slid before the line of scrimmage - and the Bills had just four quarterback hurries.
Not scoring with 1st-and-goal
Down 13-0 in the third quarter, the Bills had a 1st-and-goal at the Eagles' 7-yard line. They failed to score on four plays.
ARROW UP:
WR - Brandin Cooks
After not being on the same page with Allen through their first two games together, Cooks showed why the team signed him with a couple huge plays down the field and catches of 50 and 36 yards.
Cooks finished the game with four grabs for 101 yards.
Tyrell Shavers' catch
While he only had two grabs on the day, Shavers made an absolutely outstanding 32-yard catch down the sideline that set the Bills up with a 1st-and-goal.
Going for two
Bills head coach Sean McDermott’s decision to go for two was the right one. Badgley had already missed an extra point (blocked), which was his second in two weeks, and Allen was hobbled and had already taken five sacks. Extending the game would have exposed him even further.
He put the ball in his best players’ hands for one play to win the game, but it just didn’t work out.
Two-point conversion play design
Allen missed the throw, but Shakir was wide-open because Brady came up with a really excellent play design on the final two-point conversion attempt.
The hook-and-lateral
For the second time this year, the Bills successfully executed a hook-and-lateral (or hook-and-ladder) play. This time on a 4th-and-10 with just 1:51 remaining in the game.
Shavers caught the ball and flipped it to Johnson, which netted 21 yards on the play.
Run defense/job on Saquon Barkley
The much-maligned Bills run defense really stepped up in this one, limiting the Eagles to just 82 yards on the ground.
Saquon Barkley was held to just 68 yards on 19 carries, an average of just 3.6 yards per-run.
Second-half defense
The Bills' second-half defense was outstanding.
The Eagles ran 18 plays for 16 total yards (counting one kneel down). Philadelphia had just one first down in the second half, and Hurts did not complete a pass over the last two quarters, going 0-for-7.
LB - Matt Milano
Milano continued his excellent play, finishing as the Bills' leading tackler with seven total stops, including one for a loss, a half a sack, and a quarterback hurry.
Defensive line
The Bills' defensive line did a really nice job all day to make sure the Eagles did not get much going in the run game, and also kept Hurts in the pocket without escape lanes.
P - Mitch Wishnowsky
Wishnowsky punted six times for the Bills, with three being downed inside the Eagles' 20-yard line. Only one punt resulted in a touchback, and only one punt was returned all day.
Third-down defense for the game
The Eagles were just 3-of-13 (23.1%) overall in the game on third down.
No big plays allowed
The Eagles had to work for everything they got on offense. They only had one play all day that went for over 19 yards.
Related
